Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1887-02-11

object for which they we're sent, re'urni"s
with scarcely enough men 10 make u worm
while 10 call the roll And shall snch men
| as these he fIrgotten? Shall we refuse To
appropriate money to pcrpetuaie IN ir mem
orv? Other States have subscriber iloe'sii!
10 this appropriation, both IN the puecna.e Vi
| land and the erection OF monuments. Mo"
uments have been erected at cost Oh "o,i
one 10 ten thousand dollars. and should
feel ashamed of my native State atter the
gallant conduct of her soldiers, il she failed
TO do her whole duty in regard to this matter.
Mr. Powers did not rise for the parpHse OF
making any extended remarks, becouse he
| unprecedented that measure so just 10 tue
| memory OF the dead, ard So bonora Die TO the
| nama of the State as this, would receive
unanimous passage at the hands OF TINS
| House And he did not intend TO discuss IN
detail the Achievements of the battle OF Get-
! tys1urg, because there were oiiei meh on
| this floor whD knew more ABOUT IL thah ne
! did. He simply rose rs one OF the gehsr ttIo"'
TOO Young at that time to participate IN them,
to attest his appreciatio OF the purposes auu
objects of this Appropriation.
He thought we owed it not only to the honor
| of the Stale and ourselves, but we owe 1t al
SO to future generations. inst this approprls-
| ton should b. m ode. for wherever you hold
up the lives and achievements. the sufferlngs
ana the sacrifices, of the great men who nave
| gone before. for the study and contemplation
of your children, and your children's chll
dren. you d. that which is best calculated 10
encourage in them true nobility and patriot
ism. But think, air, we owe II mIre thah
all to the memory of the dead. 10 those VINO
on that field sacrificed life and and limb and
health that the satIon might live. 1t Is true
doubtless that upon hundred of other battle
fields Of the war, as brave men went down to
death as did on the field Of Gettysburg, hut
don't understand that in making this appro-
prialion to commemorate the achievements
| of those who fell at Gettysburg, we make
any invdinns distinction, but rather that
this is simply symbol al, as it were, of the
ACHE, ements of all those who participated
in the late war in the cause of union ana
liberty.
If YOU could roll back the tide of years
and stand and gaze down upon the battle
field and feel, with more or less Of the feel
ing that existed then, the human hopes and
human fears that trembled in the balance
through eveav day of that conflict, If you
could feel and see and appreciate and know
that on the result of those July days, largely
if not entirely, depended the fate OF millions
and the the hopes and fate of the nation, Is
it an unreasonable request that the survivors
of that field should come and ask tor a few
paitry dol ars t. commemorate the valor and
Achievements of their comrades whose valOr
and whose might saved us much. Every
sentiment of patriotism and humanity die
tates this action
Mr.. Noble thought this matter came before
the House most honorably-borse in upon us
by perfect food of petitions from every
town ard city in the state, commended and
| sustained by the press and the voice of puO-
lie sentiment, bearing the endorsement of
every gentleman upon the Military Commit
tee, commanding the unqualified support and
hearty and unanimous approval of the mem
oers of this legislature. lie thought the in
huence of the hour forbade discIssion. He
| nsdered silence AS the very essence Of the
proper spirit, linking them all in one com
mon brotherhood of purpose and resolve 10
| aid in the muniticent work of securing from
the hold of Oblivion and perpetuating to his
tory the me- IN Drable field of Gettysburg. He
said Ruskin, in his defense of the liberty of
the press, declared that the chief fruit hang
ing upon The tree of British liberty was
security und r the law. Bot to him the imper-
| iai grant of American liberty was higher than
that 1t was the preservation, bV the distin-
guished va!or of our soldiers, of the liberties
and institutions of free people, under which
only it is possible to enjoy, in fullest meas
ure, freedom, equality and security under the
| law. ne fellnueu ReNtietDSn tIat dlltr tne
memorable battle Of Marathon, a battle that
| was decisive of the liberties of Greece. the
highest honor was paid to the dead. They
were buried there on the spot where they
fell. Upon Il mnund, raised for :he purpose
| were erected ten granite shafts, bearing the
inscription of the names of those who fell :;
and there to-day the relics of that mound
are left so that the traveller may read the
simple story of their valor. 1t seemed to
him that with becoming reverence we can go
forward to Gettysburg and rear these monu-
mental shafts that will bear the inscription
of our heroic brave men who fought we'll,
so valiauty for their homes, for their com.
mon country. for our free institutions
Mr.. Looney said the reasons for the pas
sage OF this bill had been so yell and ably
considered bv the gentle men who had pre-
coded him that it had left nothing for him to
saw, except to give voice to few thoughts
which the contemplation of the subject natur.
ally presented To his mind, the Battle of
Gettysburg was the most important struggle
in the Civil War, one of the most momen-
t0us struggles of which history makes men,
tion-for it was there that the army of Lee,
flushed and exultant with victory. met on
the free soil of Pennsylvania and
hurled back across the Potomac. 1t was
there that the death knel of the Confederacy
was sounded. IL was there that the slave
holding despotism which the Southern lead
ers ate mpted to build around the Gulf Of
Mexico shattered to pieces. 1t wa.
there that it was determined TO the world
that the Mississippi should not be dividing
line. with blue watch on one side and a
gray watch on the other.
He therefore should raise his voice and
record his vote in favor of this attempt
to perpetuate the memory of the gallant
men who upon that field poured ont their
blood. sacrificed and imperilled their lives
for the great cause of American freedom. He
did not believe any body of men deserved
more than these to have their memory en-
balmed in posterity-the men who, after
the flag fell from the shattered walls of
Sumter, carried the stars and stripes down to
to the Gulf; who fell on a thousand battle
fields or in the rebel charne houses of fam
inc; who, on the sunny plains and by the
| murmuring rivers of the South went down
under shot aud shell, or the iron hoof of the
war horse of the enemy who fought, suffered
and died for the integrity of the Union and
the destruction of slavery that all might be
| free.
Mr.. Wakefield saw that in considering
| this measure many members of the House
were carried back to that critical period in
our country's history when our strength as